


The Home We Built

by DarthSuki



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, POV Eren Yeager, Slice of Life, cottagecore au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 18:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30076215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthSuki/pseuds/DarthSuki
Summary: Wall Maria has been reclaimed and so has the land beyond it, all the way to the glistening sea that seems so vast that it must have been plucked straight out of a child’s dream.Eren promised you he’d build a house with you once that happened, and he’s made well on it ever since - even if you do miss some of the luxuries of the cities within the walls.
Relationships: Eren Yeager/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	The Home We Built

When Eren promised he would take you far away from the walls, you never expected him to actually follow through with it. To all but literally sweep you off your feet and carry you though the newly-opened gates of Wall Maria with such a willpower in his eyes that he would walk across the world several times over before doubting himself.

You’d known Eren since the two of you were kids. He was always the type of person with more energy than sense, as Mikasa and Armin often laid claim to logic and level-headedness within the friend group.

But regardless, not once had you ever taken the man’s promise as anything more than the wistful words of a dreamer. Even as he signed into the military - and of course, he joined the Survey Corps - Eren always promised you freedom: from the walls, from the fear of titans, from every worry and doubt you’d ever had in your mind. It’s not that you ever really doubted his resolve or abilities, but merely that you never thought a life outside the walls was even in the realm of possibility. It seemed like a fairytale or feverish dream, impossible to achieve beyond the realm of make-believe that kids so often craft for themselves.

But he managed to do it. Through a campaign of efforts that had left you almost constantly worrying for his well-being every single time a new expedition left the safety of the walls, the Survey Corps finally regained Wall Maria and then the endless lands beyond that. Lands reaching far until they reached the sea; a body of water so vast that it stretches to the horizon as far as the eye can see.

But Eren hadn’t actually taken you so far as to see it yourself, though that’s the next promise he’s made to you. Considering his track record you’re hardly inclined to doubt that you’ll lay eyes upon the oddity soon enough.

But only after the two of you can find time away from the home you’ve built together.

* * *

“Eren!”

The shout of his name catches the man’s attention mid-swing, though the axe yet falls straight through the center of another log. It spits with a satisfying noise, both pieces falling to the ground while Eren turns to look back towards the house. You’re leaning out from the open kitchen window, the gentle breeze fluttering through your loose shirt and apron, but also carrying your voice towards him with ease.

“It’s almost time for lunch!” You shout, one hand cupped over your mouth in attempt to direct the noise while the other helps to keep you from falling out of the window itself. “Do you want something to eat?”

Across the yard, Eren returns your attention with a softness in his expression.

“Give me a few more minutes and I’ll be inside,” he calls back gently, just loud enough for you to hear over the breeze.

He watches you nod and quickly fall back inside the window. There are only a few more logs to split, and then he’d be done with one more chore for the day - and arguably the hardest when considering how much he loathed swinging an axe around. When compared to the speed design of ODM swords, it felt so clumsy and unbalanced in his hands. But that kind of complaint wouldn’t keep spare firewood in the house or boards cut to repair a wall or windowsill, so Eren knew there were times when he did need to be an adult about it.

He set up the next log upon the broad, old tree stump and pulled the handle of the axe back over his shoulder. Stray hairs tickled against his cheeks, loosed from the messy ponytail that Eren had tried to tie up and away from his face - but it hardly distracted him from felling a clean cut straight down the center of the log and splitting it cleanly in two.

“Maybe I should get it cut sometime…” the man muses to himself, letting the tool drop and lean against his leg so he could try and fix his hair.

Eren hadn’t bothered to do anything with it for the last couple years; priorities were always elsewhere, of course, and it wasn’t like he could simply see a barber about it now. It took at least a full day to get to Wall Maria, so trips into the cities were always for important things. His long hair, messy as it could be, was still not one of those important things to him.

It didn’t bother him again at least while he split the last couple logs in the pile, leaving him with a good stack of firewood pieces for when the nights start to turn chilly in the next couple weeks. He enjoyed being so far from other people, but he couldn’t deny missing some of the gentle luxuries that the two of you had given up when moving out of the walls.

Eren sets the axe down proper and moves towards the house with a growing hunger to his stomach he had long forgotten was there since morning, aided all the more by the smell of cooking meat wafting from the open windows of the kitchen.

He steps into the front door to find you cooking, though he hardly cared in the details of what it might be.

“Smells delicious,” he notes warmly, stepping up behind and sliding his arms around your waist. “What’s the special occasion?”

“Nothing, actually,” you reply, poking the searing meat on the open stovetop. “There was a merchant selling fresh cuts of ham the last time we went into town, and I simply thought today was a good day to cook some of it.”

Eren takes in a deep breath, feeling a sense of calm flow through his limbs from the scent of you as much as the sizzling ham slices in the pan. So strange to think that, just a few years ago, a moment like this would have been reserved only for the rich or worthy - a time when meat was a rarity in itself due to how little land was available to make it.

With the land within and outside the walls reclaimed, there were a lot of things coming into the hand of even the poorest folk that had once been utter luxuries.

“Good call,” Eren finally murmurs with his lips gently pressing to the back of your neck. “The weather is good today. Maybe we can eat outside?”

You close your eyes to enjoy the warmth of Eren’s kiss to your nape.

“Yeah,” you finally say, poking once more at the mouthwatering slice of ham. “I think that would be perfect. Let’s try to enjoy the summer warmth while we still can.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to read more of my stuff, check out my Attack on Titan writing blog on Tumblr @ [attackontitanwritings](https://attackontitanwritings.tumblr.com/).


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